This. Choices at level-up should really mean something.

From what understand... Brad didn´t say they listen too much. The problem was to try to put every suggestion into the game. Although i wasn´t here, i´m sure that this could be a problem. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

All i see now is, that it seems there is a clear design idea/concept of the game. That doen´t mean that everybody will love this game. I would say, that if you don´t like FE in this state you will never like it. I could be wrong, sure.

I voted good, but only just.  The last build was top-end good, but with the slow levelling up and limits on equipable items you seem to be taking quite a bit of the fun out of the game for me (just my personal opinion guys!). 

I loved creating uber champs with all those nice little bonus items equipped.  I know the stack of doom was a big problem for most people (me too) but by putting too many limits on a sandbox game can it still be classed as a sandbox game?  Give us more options to select our preferred type of game play if need be.  Despite all this I'm still very excited to see where this game will go, but I'm hoping the next update with help me feel a little of that love again.

Cheers,

Andy.

I too hate the limit on items. I would prefer 3 level of use from objects tied to stats : a powerfull champion could get the best from an object.

For instance : fire sword (int 7/15)

below 7 int you get +1 fire damage, between 7 and 15 you get +2 fire damage and 25% to burn, above 15 int you get +3 fire damage and 50% to burn.

I basically agree with you.

But I think we are not going to see fantasy archtypes or more distinct races for a couple of reasons:

1) The game has its own lore and Stardock is happy with that.

2) I think I have read about it being difficult to have many visually different races because the game would become very slow. The game engine would need to constantly load various textures and models, slowing down the game.

Maybe if they could make a game for 64-bit operating systems only, things would be different. But I can imagine that that is not a viable option yet commercially.

3) The different races require a lot of graphic designer effort. For games like MoM and Age of wonders the designers had to make a lot of sprites. I think, -but I'm no expert-, it is more involving to make 3D models and textures.

I voted fair. Immersion (city building, techs and factions), balance (combat, wildland risk/reward), UI (leveling, city buliding) and AI still need a lot of work.

I hope most people agree that there do need to of some kind of limits in place. .77 was ridiculous.

As for paper doll, that would be ideal, and I wish the game had been designed from the ground up with it.  But it's a pretty complex system in it's own right to hope for as a tack-on at this point. The current accessory limits are sort of an abstraction achieving more or less the same thing. It's just not as conceptually satisfying.

I would welcome paper doll, though.

Because if you try to be all things to all people you end up sucking in all.

Some of what you want are contradictory. You seem to want an RPG that has some strategy elements. That's not what this game is.

I voted "fair".

I think the game has a lot of potential, but it misses some of the charm that Master of Magic had. For one, all the units are more or less the same-- humanoids with various weapons or mounts. I liked the variety of Draconian flying units, elven pegasi, dark elven nightmares, etc that you got from MoM and the fact that if you took over a city that wasn't your race, you could still make and control that races specific units. Not sure if it would be feasible, but it would be kind of cool if each major faction had it's own spreading terrain effect. Magmar(?) could have some red-fiery wasteland for his dragon race, the wraiths could have a dark/black spooky type effect, etc. Would give each race a bit more character rather than the foresty green Kingdom vs. the Purplely Goo Empire.  Perhaps it could rather be affected more by which school of magic your Sovereign was most proficient in upon character creation, and you could choose which effect you wanted if you had a tie?

It would also be cool to see neutral cities that you could take over or influence to join your cause.

I would like to see a lot more spells. Especially in the summoning area with varieties of units to summon both big and small. I would also like to make armies with the summoned units-- not just be limited to one fire elemental permanently and one more in tactical. But yeah, I want hell hounds and unicorns and sprites and all them. Also, the book seems to do this already, but it doesn't actually have a tabs and labels feature. Can we get tabs/page labels for City Enhancement spells, Unit Enhancement spells, Summoning Spells, Global Enchantment spells, etc? Speaking of which, there don't seem to be many Global Enchantment spells. Some of the ones in MoM were quite interesting and some quite annoying. IIRC there was one in life magic that would make it so no country could declare war until it was counterspelled (Just Cause, I think).  Terrain spells would be nice and fun too.

I feel expansion in the game is too fast and should slow down. I tend to like to make sure one city is safe before going onto another city, and by the time I accomplish that the AI usually has 3-4 cities all over the place and my city just finishes building its workshop. Pioneers need to reduce city population when they are made and should require a certain population level to be available for training. I'm not saying it should have to be city level 2 of 5, but pioneers shouldn't be readily spammable like they are right now. Also, monsters gobble up my explorers like gumdrops, but they seem to be far less aggressive to my pioneers. Perhaps this is a factor?

Outposts... I understand why they exist, but they feel so lackluster and useless. I would rather just build another city unless I have a reason not to. If I were able to do more with the outposts or if the outposts made some of the surrounding area able to be settled, I would be much warmer to making them. Perhaps they could be tied to the city closest to them when they are made and they could upgrade automatically once certain techs are researched and the city they are tied to has reached a certain level? Something like Outpost > Watch Tower > Fortified Tower > Keep > Fortress?

I've said it in other posts too, but the map maker either really has it in for me or something is severely wrong with the generator. Even on Temperate settings, I find myself in a little area big enough for only one city and surrounded by vast bands of barren/uninhabitable areas while my AI opponents have large tracts of land to expand in. It gets really frustrating.

The beginning seems to be way too slow. The initial researching for the base of each tree takes a loooong time which makes clearing nearby monster lairs quite cumbersome and tedious if you don't pick up the summoner trait for the summoned shadow warg which makes the process so much more tolerable.

Quests-- Quests as map spawns are fine and all, but I would kind of like to see some quests that were randomly generated and came as a sort of announcement at the beginning of each turn. Kind of like how the random heroes or merchants would have a chance at coming to your kingdom in MoM based on your fame.

@Xan

Fair enough. I just don't want the forums to turn into a sort of hive mind where the community (largely made up of fans) are reflexively talking down dissenting opinion. While the devs are human beings and need cheerleading too, I 'd be fine if the majority of the feedback was negative, as long as it's civil.  Better now than after release.

Even if their reasons for disliking something are completely off base or poorly stated, getting an idea of the amount of people that are disliking it for any reason is also valuable. The FE crew is smart enough to know they're not going to make everyone happy.

I voted "good" though, so don't flame me, community. Im totally one of you!

I voted "fair"

I'm still piddling with the game, my direct comparison is for Age of wonders. Best game ever! I would love to see this game reach classic status. It has a very long way to go though. Note enough of everything really. Sounds are lacking, combat is lacking, visually it's pretty, (except for empires DARK purple landscape) but other there just being more "stuff" it's doesn't look at all that different from WOM. It plays a hell of lot better, but that's not saying much as WOM played just awful.

I have to agree about the races being too similar. I understand the remodeling race specific is a huge task, but something has to be done to make them different. Both visually, AND mechanically. My suggestion at what I would think would take the least about of effort, would be to change the races height and sizes. Thin and thick, tall, medium, and small. At least then you could tell they are different races just at a glance.

I really wish cities looked more... I dunno. WOW? More race specific. Like certain races get special buildings. Or at the least, I would make the Tower of Dominance larger, much taller, and unique for each faction. So just by seeing that one building, you could tell who you're messing with.

On a side note: I do want to say that I am proud of Stardock for taking responsibility for WOM, and trying to do it right by taking their time and being very open and honest to the community. It's nice to be able to get direct answers from the DEVs. I feel this game has immense potential just for that alone!

I vote good. I know this is a work in progress and I love what I am seeing.

As far as I can see I think it's getting better. However it's not close to being a very good game.

I also agree with many people on this thread that the Channelers all look the same. They are without flavour. Frankly they are boring. They really need pictures that make them apart and they need technology or magic or peasants that set them aside. Otherwise there is no point. Hate to compare it with MOM but when you were choosing a Magic user you were choosing a character with traits. That is what I am looking for. Frankly Fallen is not close to this.

The map is beautiful there is no denying it. Keep it up it's incredible. I would add an aura around each factions so we can know who is who at a glance.

The monsters are still way to stupid in the overland map. (I am betting this is a work in progress) I thought I mention it anyway.

The tactical map and battles still need some work. I want a play a game of chess not checkers. I want tactic to exist in these tactical battles. I don't see why we could not have a spell that creates barriers in the tactical battles. If I can bring down mountains I can't see why I could not create one during battle to help me out. I think this game would benefit from a tactical battle that is more involved. People who prefer simple can always auto resolve. There is definite room for improvement. Bonuses depending on where you are fighting are a must too.

The magic icons in the tactical battles are not very user friendly. I always have to check each icon to find out which spell I want to cast. I prefer a book or a list but icons? BEURK.

I still have a hard time understanding what I am building in my city and what benefit it gives me. + production here + unrest there. I wish it was easier to understand. I start my city on the first turn, then I start creating an army. Why waste time building stuff in my city I can't create anything else during that time. If I understood more what effect each thing does it would be helpful. I guess that's what a manual is for. I might have to wait for it.

I want global events happening like in Galciv 2. Something to spice up your game. Example The X channeler baby got bitten by a bear and the bear was wearing your collar and tags. Guess what,,, you are now at war... Something like that.

How about if your main Channeler starts sucking you can get Heroes going to the enemy?

When using pioneers I have a really hard time figuring out where I can build. I never see grains and such even though I click on the button ton see it. Wish there was a simpler way to do it.

I agree with some other posters that I too would welcome paper doll system for items.

Creating cities, I really loved the way MOM did it. It was simple and very effective. Depending on who founded the city you could build certain things. Depending on where it was situated you got certain bonuses. I wish to see this in Fallen. I do not recall in Fallen, but when we conquered a city do we get different buildings? I'll have to conquer somebody tonight and find out.

When you level out a champion seems to me that the level up bonuses are not always on target with the genre of Champions we are building. If I want a mage I certainly do not want Strength bonuses. Maybe the bonuses could be rework to take this into considration.

We should have a spreadsheet window that gives us access to all our cities and outpost, and another once that gives us access to our troops. Champions and a tab for normal units. and another for trained creatures. This way it would make it simple to find them on the map. When you have one it's easy when you have 50 it's hard to find them

I admit I do not know much about programming games and all. But I wonder why stuff that made Galvic 2 a great game are not used more in this game. Different tech trees for each factions, spreadsheet data, I could keep quoting others but I think you understand.

I vote good. I know this is a work in progress and I love what I am seeing.

Keep it up.  All Hail the frog!! 

The user interface looks great, but is not very user friendly.

Many models looks far from finished, as also the released game had. Watered colors. Models have to few details.

I really h*te the art style to be honest. Can you please hire someone who knows how to draw for god sake. A person who know how to draw animals and humans to begin with. I don't feel like playing the game when I look at the ugly art. It's that bad.